Young Afghan national caught with forged passport at airport

He was allegedly on the way to Germany to seek political asylum

A young Afghan national, who was allegedly on his way to Germany to seek political asylum, has been arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here for allegedly travelling on a forged passport.

The police have obtained his one-day custody to crosscheck his antecedents.

The Afghan national was about to board a Lufthansa flight to Berlin a couple of days ago when the airlines staff intercepted him for checking his documents. Suspecting that he had used a stolen resident permit, purportedly issued in Germany, they handed him over to the immigration officials.

The accused was travelling on an Afghanistan passport issued in the name of Abdul Khalid, purportedly from Berlin.

“The 21-year-old man was cleared for immigration in the early hours of July 6 for Munich. During questioning, he disclosed his real name as Abdul Tamim, son of Abdul Rahim. He arrived in India as a tourist onboard a flight from Kandahar using his genuine passport. Tamim told the interrogators that he intended to apply for political asylum in Germany and had contacted an agent named Azim in Lajpat Nagar. We suspect the agent is also of Afghan origin,” said a police officer.

“The passport had a fake German visa. As instructed by the agent, he came to IGI Airport on a domestic flight ticket arranged by him. Inside the airport, the agent handed him over another Afghanistan passport bearing his photograph, issued from Berlin in the name of Abdul Khalid, along with a boarding card for the Munich-bound flight. The agent took from the accused his genuine passport and domestic ticket, instructing him to report at the immigration counter. The accused also managed to get clearance from immigration and went past security check, but was intercepted by the airlines staff just before he was to board the flight,” said the officer.

Based on a complaint, the police registered a case against Tamim and produced him before a city court.

“We sought his police custody for interrogation, but the Duty Magistrate turned down our application. He was then produced before the regular Magistrate, who granted us one-day custody. He is being questioned to ascertain why he wanted to visit Germany, although he claims he wanted to take political asylum there,” the officer added.